I want to ask for the Ideal TEMP of my CPUPhenom II x6 1100T or the normal Operating temperature in Degrees CelciusMy CPU idles around 42 to 46 Cand at noon when it is very hot 49 to 53 CWhenever I play games like Reckoning or Skyrim temps rises to 55 to 60 C is that Healthy for my CPU?

It is high, but assuming you are using the stock heatsink, ambient temperatures have a massive effect on CPU temps. A decent aftermarket cooler only runs $30 or less with the performance Corsair H series not to much more than that. Also, to get temps, always look at the core temp, not the CPU temp, as core temps are measured in the socket by a sensor using a formula to give a calculated value, which is usually wrong.

Like I said many times, I live in the Caribbean, so here the temps are always over 30ºC all year, with some day hotter than others..

Because of that, I had to make some investments on the CPU cooler and a case with a decent airflow to reduce temps on my CPU.. And despite of that, on hot days, my CPU goes as far as 55ºC at full load, which concerns me some times, even knowing is a save temp..

Invest on a decent CPU cooler, and a good case with nice airflow, and you'll see your temps to drop a few degrees..

I've got the same setup and am thinking of replacing the stock cooler, in order to overclock slightly to max of 4.0Ghz. You mentioned the Corsair H60 and H80. I'm looking to install a cooler using the existing brackets (without having to take off my motherboard). Would these work or do you have any other coolers you'd recommend? Thanks.

I'll get the cooler and clean the existing thermal paste and install new paste. Once complete, I'm going to attempt to overclock up to 4.0ghz max., any suggestions on the best way to do this, through normal BIOS or using a utility like AMD Windows Overdrive? I'm not looking to max everything out, just get a bit more power as I've heard that the game I usually plan, Microsoft FSX runs best at just about 4.0ghz.

I'm very new at the concept of overclocking, but I thought with a better cooler and just a slight adjustment up on speed, it shouldn't be too strenuous.

I just checked Amazon and the h60 is a watercooler. Looks like it has gret reviews, but a possible tendency to leak/malfunction. Any suggestions for a comparable air cooler that might fit the existing AMD bracket?

I got to 4.25Ghz with my H70 .. via very carefully tweaking the mainboard BIOS , .. If you're new to o/clocking, go read some guides, read them some more, then go back and read them again, and proceed slowly with things and don't go at it like a bull in a china shop .. If you ggogle for AMD Dragon Platform overclocking guide, then you might find the AMD .pdf file which used to be floating around, that'll give you a basic idea as to where to begin etc ..

Bear in mind, not all chips clock the same, and not all mainboard settings may work for you, it's trial and error and the luck of the draw as to how high a clock you'll get etc ..

A normal HSF may have fan issues, might get clogged with dust, thermal paste may dissipate or cake, fan could fail, mainboard fan header could fail, all of which would render the HSF useless and in the most extreme case of failure, fry the CPU aswell .. .. so it's the same situation as with water cooling at the end of the day really ..

The Corsair Hydro series don't have a tendency to leak at all, whoever wrote that is spouting crap from the wrong end ..

My H70 doesn't leak, neither do the tetra-zillions of them I've installed at work / for friends etc .. they would only leak if people force the pipes around roughly with their neanderthal hands, or don't take care when installing the units ..

ANY component in ANY PC under ANY situation at ANY time, can malfunction, that's the nature of components and electronics .. as with any other manufacturing industry .. nothing is infallible.

Thanks. My question on the watercooler aspect was just my own ignorance once again displaying itself. I really have no experience with this, so I'll go with your suggestion and get the watercooler. Looks like you have to add additional fans in some instances and there is also the issue of putting it outside your case?? Anyways, I'll get one and go from there.

Your overclocking info is right on. I was never a computer guy, but getting more interested in fixing, upgrading things and figuring out how they work. I'ts almost like working on a living puzzle and I'm surprised at how interesting it is. I'll keep your overclocking advice handy and do it really slow. Thanks again for the info on AMD pdf file.

Well, when the H70 came out, the fixing bracket was a pain to install and the fans weren't very strong as far as static pressure was concerned, so I added my own .. Now, the newer H60/80 etc have a revised mounting bracket, as easy as mounting the normal HSFs and they've upgraded the fans to higher static pressure ones too .. so you should be OK without having to buy your own ..

No probz .. keep at it, you'll soon learn a shed load of things .. it's how I started off with it all way back when ( buddy dropped a load of parts around but had to leave before we had chance to set things up .. by the time he called back, I'd assembled the thing and was waiting for him to bring a copy of Windows around. His face was like how did you do all that ? LOL .. and we didn't have the internet either at the time to look for info heh ) .. Very rewarding once you get into it all ..

You can't mount any of the self-contained water-coolers (Corsair's Hydro, Antec H20 Kuhler, etc) outside of the computer case. Why? You can't them apart and route the cables out (they are self-contained and sealed).

The Phenom II 1100T and 1090T are essentially the same...and has an unlocked multipler, so the best way to overclock it is

1) Use the BIOS to overclock

2) Adjust both the Multipler and the base Frequency

Useful tips:

Avoid the need to push the VCore anything higher than ~1.5v, but then again, every CPU is different. For 4GHz though, ~1.45V - 1.47V is usually more than enough.

I'm pretty sure the Phenom II X6's can go a bit further than 4.0GHz.

(I've messed with mine a tiny bit more and 4.2GHz seems to work ok, but I haven't thoroughly tested it yet to make sure it works 110%.)

the Phenom II's doesnt seem to like running RAM above 1700MHz (CPU design limitation?) I would recommend that you stay in between 1333MHz - 1600MHz (may have to change the RAM multiplier in BIOS to achieve this)

You can usually get 220MHz FSB on default voltage and a bit of voltage bump to get 240/250MHz.

Something you have to realize too is that you don't HAVE to push the CPU to 4ghz+. If you play crappy console ports (which you shouldn't, if people would boycott crappy ports then publishers would actually take the time to code them correctly, but that's another argument) that use 10% of the CPU for ever 1% GPU (exaggeration but you get the point) then it would be useful, but even running it at 3.8ghz isn't enough to make or break playability. There are plenty of articles out there that show that at 1920x1080 and above your GPU bogs down before the CPU whereas below that you have the opposite effect.

So, the goal shouldn't be "push the thing as far as it will go", it should rather be "what is the optimal balance between speed and voltage", and in many cases there is a severe point of diminishing returns where you have to add .2v or more just to get another 200mhz. There is also another voltage you can adjust aside from Vcore, and that is CPU VDDA (or whatever your motherboard calls it) which deals with voltage under load by overvolting the CPU slightly under load (thereby countering voltage droop) while leaving idle voltage virtually unchanged, wonderful little setting.

About what rascal told, I used the program that came with my mobo to do the OC on my 955, and that program did the changes on the Bios directly, and saved on a Profile.. But, what I always saw, was the fact that it only modified the CPU multi, nothing else.. Now, these days, after installing my RAID system and installing Win 7 x64 again, I decided to do some OC on my own way.. Again, not a computer scientist..

And do some changes on both: CPU multi and base Freq.. Guess what: nice OC at 3,7GHz, not tested yet with Prime or CCCT, but with hours and hours of BF3 online..

About what b_z said, I never payed attention on that CPU VDDA, despite I think I saw it on my Bios.. Next thing to do: look for it..

About what GG said, I never wanted to mess with the voltage.... until now.. I think I'm very touchy on things that I even don't know what they means for the only pourpose of seeing what it does..

But, I'll give it a try.. I'll see what changes can I made on the speeds.. Like the HT/NB speeds that I changed days back..

To the OP: read a lot, dude.. And start trying with the software your mobo came with, if any.. That's the easiest way to see how it works, and will give you a first approach..

Thanks to all of you. What was previously grey is now a bit clear. I'll get the cooler put on, then very slowly adjust overclocking settings, test for consistency, and have the confidence that the CPU will be ok. I'm excited to get this project moving. Thanks again guys - I'm thankful for your support.

Got the cooler installed, the h60 and it works great temps are really low. Went to do an overclock using AMD Overdrive, tried to increase CPU multiplier to x20, but only got to x18, with multiplier of 10X and Ht reference clock up to 210, but when I try to use a program, I get the blue screen saying "not enough memory", and system shuts down.

I've got 4 sticks of 4gb ram, DDR3. Any suggestions? I think as I bring the multiplier up, it may be too much for my ram. I have not yet adjusted the voltage settings yet. Thought I'd try it on my own before i did the video link by Hardwood. It seems in most forums, including Tom's Hardware, it is easy to overclock to 4.0 Ghz., but I'm missing something I think.